After the Battle
by DragonKey27
Summary: One-shot. After the battle at Victoria Peak, Jake and Rose discuss life and their future, while sinister forces discuss the aftermath. Part 1/21 in the Acolytes of Darkness Saga.


**With the exception of the last 2 scenes at the end, this is basically what I feel the end-credits scene for Hong Kong Longs should have been.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own American Dragon: Jake Long, any work (fanfiction or copyrighted) that I reference/borrow ideas from or any of the associated characters and locations. Credit goes to their respective owners**

**Credit for the theory on how the skulls made Jake's wish work goes to TV Tropes. org**

* * *

_ This is the best day of my life!_ Jake thought to himself as he and Rose just sat there on a ledge on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. Not only had they just banished the Dark Dragon to another dimension for the next thousand years, but the girl he loved finally remembered him. Even though it had been a long day for everybody, his parents let him have fifteen more minutes with his girlfriend before they went back to their hotel.

"So," he began nervously, "how much do you remember? Did you just remember some things, or..."  
"Oh, I remember everything, Dragon Boy," Rose teased as she cut him off.  
"So... how's life in Hong Kong?" he asked.  
"Well, I've enjoyed living here for the past year," she answered, "but I still miss New York. Speaking of which, how did you manage without me for a year?"  
"It was pretty hard," he began, "Trixie and Spud tried to throw me into the deep end of the dating pool by doing a bachelor auction as a charity fundraiser."  
"I take it that didn't really work out?" she asked.  
"Not at all," he replied. "For me, the bidding was down to Danika Hunnicutt and Vicky Fickling, but I didn't want to date Vicky, so I threw the auction in favor of Danika. At first, everybody but me thought Danika was a siren, but then after Danika thought we accused her of stealing a siren necklace, it turned out that Vicky was the siren, and she used her mind control powers on me, Spud, and Fu. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing week. Besides, I just couldn't let go of you."

The two teens just sat in silence for a few minutes before Jake finally spoke again.  
"I'm sorry, by the way."  
"For dating another girl when I couldn't even remember you existed?" she replied  
"That too, but you told me before the homecoming ball that all you wanted was a normal life," he answered "I gave it to you, and then I took it away."  
"Jake, don't," she continued, "First of all, I'm not mad about Danika. Second of all, I know what I said, but I love you, and I'd rather be with you than be normal."

Jake was stunned. He had known deep down since infiltrating the Huntsclan Academy that he loved her back, but even though she'd tried to tell him in the dream world, this was the first time she'd actually said it to him in person.  
"I love you too," he replied with a smile.  
After another minute of hugging, he sat up and reached into his pockets until he found what he was looking for.  
"Here," he said as he handed her the dream charm. "I found this in the Huntslair after the whole homecoming battle. Just because the Huntsclan is gone doesn't mean we can't keep using these, right?"  
"But if you wished that I'd never been part of the Huntsclan," she replied, "then that means I never made this, and I wasn't there to make my wish, which means you didn't make yours, and... Ugh," she growled, "it's giving me a headache just thinking about it."  
"I actually have a theory of how this could work without destroying reality," came a voice behind them.  
Arthur P. Spudinski, or "Spud" as his friends called him was a genius even if he didn't want to admit it. As such, it was only natural that he could come up with an explanation for this temporal conundrum.  
"My theory," Spud began as he walked in front of the star-crossed lovers "is that because of all the contradictions of your wishes, the Aztec skulls couldn't actually change the past, so they made everybody think the past had been changed by altering memories and documents so that everything looked like Jake's wish worked. Seeing the photo of you two restored Rose's real memories, and the only reason any of us remember her is because we were there when Jake made his wish, so our memories were too strong to change."

"Wow," they both replied in spite of the fact that Spud had ruined their moment.  
"As complicated as that is," Rose added, "that actually makes sense."  
"That's what I do," Spud replied as he walked back down the mountain. "By the way, Jake, your dad said to tell you that it's time to go back to the hotel."  
"Aww, man," Jake groaned as he and Rose stood up. "So, what are we gonna do now that you remember me? I mean, I know long-distance relationships don't usually work out, and dream dating will be hard with the time zone differences and everything, but I don't want us to just get torn apart again."  
"Actually, we're transferring back to New York this summer, we just don't know when. Trust me, distance won't be a problem."  
"Really? AWESOME!" Jake shouted as the two of them walked down the mountain. "Although that does beg the question: what do we tell your parents once we start dating again?"  
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, dragon boy," she replied with a smirk.

Jake was positively euphoric. Not only did Rose finally remember him, but she was moving back to New York, meaning they could openly date without worrying about being exposed by the Huntsclan. His excitement only grew when Rose gave him one last kiss before she had to run home before her parents got back from a dinner party they had left for shortly after Jake had been hauled off by the police. And so he returned to the hotel with his family a happier and contented dragon.

* * *

On the other side of Victoria Peak, a violet dragon clawed and breathed fire furiously in a vain attempt to escape the sphinx hair net she was trapped in. Her simian underling had abandoned her for his own survival, and worse, the American Dragon's** ten-year-old sister** was responsible for her current predicament. _Both of them will suffer a gruesome death when I get out of this net,_ she thought to herself as she continued her attempts to break free. She was so busy struggling that she failed to notice a mysterious figure in black robes walk up behind her, dagger in hand. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late. The last thing that Chang felt was the sharp pain of a knife stabbing her behind the left ear.

* * *

_It's certainly been a productive day, _the figure thought to themselves as they poured a mysterious, black liquid into a goblet in the privacy of their hotel room. The members of the dragon council were all staying on the same floor, and most of them were fast asleep.

All except one.

As the councilor turned off the lights and walked over to a mat that had been laid out in the corner of the room, they braced themselves against the pain that would soon come. _I might as well get this over with, _they thought as they chugged every last drop of the foul-looking liquid.

The councilor balled their fists and clenched their teeth to keep themselves from screaming out as searing hot, dark smoke burst forth from their chest. It was only when they could see a masked face in the smoke did they finally relax.

"Did you actually do what you were supposed to?" the figure remarked snidely.

"Yes, my liege," the councilor replied. "The so-called "Dragon of Darkness" has been banished from this realm. He will be easy prey for your servants."

"Not bad. You actually succeeded," the figure continued. "Guess you get to stick around a while longer. Oh, and don't worry about Chang. Arlene already took care of her. One less wild card on the table."

"All things proceed according to your will, master," the councilor added. "However, there is a small snag. The American Dragon was reunited with his huntsclan lover during the battle. I fear that now he will be even harder to control and impossible to turn."

"Don't worry about that loser," their master answered. "There are more subtle ways of manipulating him. Anything you'd like to get off your chest?"

"No, my liege," the councilor finished.

"Fine," the mysterious figure replied as the smoke began to dissipate, "There won't be that much activity for a while. The old fool Xehanort still runs around attempting to pursue his pathetic dream. Even so, he's still dangerous. We'll lay low for a while until the old man's out of the picture. Then we'll strike. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, master," the Councilor replied as the face vanished. _Well, _they thought to themselves, _I guess that means I'm going to have a lot more free time on my hands. _

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I'm deliberately trying to keep the identity of the villainous councilor a secret for the time being. That's a mystery for later in the saga. If you're wondering what's happening with the dragon councilor, watch the episode "Massacre" from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and skip to the part where Talzin talks to Dooku by having an astral projection of herself burst out of his chest a la Alien and you'll get the idea of what I'm trying to do with that scene. Sorry if that part's unclear. **

**As for the memory erasing theory, I felt that the theory of how Jake's wish worked made so much sense that I just felt the urge to use it in a post-Hong Kong Longs Fanfic.**


End file.
